You've Been On My Mind
by stars28
Summary: Kieran gains a ghost, and the Winchesters go and sort it out. (Sequel to "A Bad Time For Being In Love")


**Sequel to "A Bad Time For Being In Love"**  
_[Dean/OMC]_

* * *

I was just waking up when my phone rang. I groaned, and ignored it, getting up and stretching carefully.

"Shouldn't you answer that?" Sam asked.

He'd already been for a jog and gone for coffee, which I was eternally gratefully for, but I'd never tell my brother that.

"Don't feel like it." I replied, making my way across to the tempting smell of coffee on the small table.

"Fine, I'll answer it for you then." He said, grabbing the phone and saying, "Hello?"

I didn't hear the first part of Sam's conversation, concentrating on the coffee cup, inhaling the delicious smell.

"Uh...Dean? It's someone called Kieran. He said I should..." Sam didn't get a chance to finish what he was saying because I'd grabbed my phone off him and pressed it to my ear.

"Kieran? Is that really you?" I asked, barely able to believe it. He was ringing me, after all this time... Which could only mean something had happened to him, "Are you alright?"

I could see Sam looking at me like I'd grown another head, so I flipped him off. He pulled a bitch face at me.

"Well... Yes..."

"I sense a but coming along here," I said, taking a sip of my coffee, relishing the warm liquid going down my throat, "Go on."

"I think I've got a," His voice dropped to a whisper, "Ghost."

"Where are you?" I asked, motioning for Sam to gather our things together. He did, albeit reluctantly.

"In my room."

"Listen to what I'm about to say very carefully," I waited until I got an affirmative 'uh-huh' from him before continuing my sentence, "Go to the bar. You know which one. Wait for us there. We'll be there soon."

"Ok. Who's we?"

"Me and Sam," I replied, ignoring the look Sam was giving me, "Bye Kieran."

"Bye Dean."

* * *

**(dean-dean-dean-dean)**

* * *

"So, who's Kieran?" Sam asked once we were underway, the Impala heading towards Palo Alto, tarmac disappearing underneath her wheels, "And how does he have your number?"

"Because I left it for him after our fight!" I snapped. I'd been on edge ever since the phone call, finishing my coffee in silence and then going for a shower.

"Fight?" Sam said.

I gulped, I didn't want to rely my heartbreak to Sam. I didn't think I'd live through it again. Last time, it had been a close call for me _not_ to throw myself in front of that banshee in Oregon.

"Yeah fight..." I said, not wanting to tell him, but I knew he'd keep asking until I caved, "We had a minor falling out - I told him about being a hunter and he flipped out."

_"You told him about hunting?!"_ Sam exclaimed, and I was glad he wasn't driving because I felt sure that if he had, the car would have swerved widely.

I nodded, "Yeah, but I hadn't expected him to..."

"To what?" Sam said, in a much calmer voice.

I sighed, "To get so _angry_ with me. He was shouting and yelling. It..." _Broke my heart,_ I silently finished off the sentence in my head. There was no way I was admitting that to Sam.

"It did what?"

"Nothing." I shook my head, firmly ending the conversation.

* * *

**(dean-dean-dean-dean)**

* * *

The Impala rolled to a halt in the parking lot behind the bar. I was glad to stretch my muscles, they seemed to have seized up during the three-hour drive. I'm not going to lie, I was looking forward to seeing Kieran after all this time.

"How did you get to know Kieran?" Sam asked, walking into the bar next to me.

"We met."

"I want more than that Dean," He whined like the younger brother that he was, "Tell me the details."

"Fine, I met him at Stanford."

"Wait what? But you never when to University."

"I know that Sam. I was checking on you and he caught me," I replied, my eyes adjusting to the dim light of the bar, "We got to know each other, and I stayed here for a couple of weeks. Then I told him what I did for a living and then I left."

"You checked on me?" Sam said, sounding stunned, "Why?"

"Cause I'm your brother and I care for you," I replied, scanning the bar now that my eyes had adjusted, "And..."

I stopped talking because I could see him, Kieran. He hadn't changed much since I last saw him. I headed over, with Sam trailing behind me. He was clutching a beer bottle like it was the only thing keeping him in the present, staring at the seats opposite him vacantly.

Gently, I sat down in the booth, nudging Kieran with my leg, so he knew we were here. He glanced up and his blue eyes lighting when he saw me.

"Dean! You're here!" He said, smiling.

"What? You expected me not to come?" I asked, winking to let him know I was joking.

"Well..." He trailed off.

"You didn't?!" I said, pretending to be offended, and then breaking into laughter.

"Uh... I'm gonna go and get drinks. What d'you want Dean?" Sam said, standing up.

"Double whiskey." I said. Sam nodded and I turned my attention to Kieran, saying, "The reason we're here. Tell me what's happening."

Once Kieran had told me about the haunting, I thought it was pretty simple and Sam agreed with me. I told Kieran that we'd have it sorted by the end of the day, though I was wondering why I hadn't noticed last time I was here. Oh yeah, my EMF meter had been hidden in the false bottom in the boot of the Impala, and I couldn't exactly use it in his apartment as I hadn't told him what I did for a living.

* * *

**(dean-dean-dean-dean)**

* * *

It had taken Sam about three hours in the campus library (we were let in by Kieran, who still worked there except he was now a general dogsbody) to figure out who we were dealing with. A simple case of a suicide in the apartment. It had even told us where she was buried, an easy case. It was nice.

While we were digging up the poor sod, Sam asked, "So, how long were you here for?"

"About two weeks?" I replied, thinking and then amended my statement, "Though actually it was nearer to three weeks."

"Three weeks? And I never figured it out?"

I chuckled, "No you didn't. Although, when I left, you banged into me and then tried to call me afterwards."

I hoped he wasn't going to bring up the fact that I had been crying when I left.

"Dean..."

"Yes..." I said, mimicking him.

"I remember seeing you..." He paused his digging and leant on his shovel, looking at me intently, "Crying. I wasn't just imagining that, was I?"

I shook my head, and choked out, "No, you weren't."

"Oh Dean..."

"Don't. I'm over it." I didn't even expand on what 'it' was, but I think we both knew what it was. My heart tightened with regret, sadness and...pain. Maybe I wasn't completely over it, but I almost was.

"Ok." He said and got back to digging.

* * *

**(dean-dean-dean-dean)**

* * *

We stayed an extra night at Kieran's - to make sure the ghost had gone - and while Sam slept like a log on the couch, I ambled to the kitchen to make myself a drink. I couldn't sleep. I heard footsteps and automatically dropped into a fighting stance.

"Oh hey, I thought it was someone else," I said, relaxing my stance, leaning against the kitchen side, "Why are you awake?"

"Couldn't sleep," He muttered, going towards the fridge and opening it, rummaging around in it and bringing out some milk, "What about you?"

"Same," I said, before expanding my point slightly, "It's weird, being back here. Really weird."

"Good weird or bad weird?" Kieran asked, pouring milk into a glass and taking a gulp.

"Good weird without a doubt." I took a sip of my coffee, even though I knew it would keep me awake. Ah well, I've done cases on less sleep. It's not unusual.

We were silent for a few minutes before I asked,

"Does this haunting mean you believe what my job is now?"

Kieran flickered his eyes up from the floor and focused on me instead as he said, without any hesitation, "Yes, I do."

I smiled.

* * *

**A/N:** The sequel to _"A Bad Time For Being In Love". _Please review.


End file.
